The Beaver
2011
Comedy, Drama
1h 31m
Suffering from a severe case of depression, toy company CEO Walter Black (Mel Gibson) begins using a beaver hand puppet to help him open up to his family. With his father seemingly going insane, adolescent son Porter (Anton Yelchin) pushes for his parents to get a divorce. Jodie Foster directs and co-stars as Walter's wife in this family comedy
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The Beaver
2011
Comedy, Drama
1h 31m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 40.71% from 710 total ratings
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Rated 24 Aug 2011
45
18th
It has ambition, which says something, and Gibson and Yelchin are both good. Too bad the vast majority of it is way too ridiculous to be believed. I knew I would have to suspend some disbelief, but after awhile the characters and their relationships got so out there that it was either too melodramatic or unintentionally funny. Also everything to do with the toy company was terrible.
Rated 24 Aug 2011
Rated 08 Nov 2011
60
49th
So many interesting ideas, so much bad execution. That being said Gibson is fantastic. I really wish we could get over this anti-semitic thing...can I say that? Eh who cares. Guy can act. This film needed more time to breathe, more scenes focusing on the man behind the Beaver, less time with Anton Yelchin (if any time at all). If it had that, it could have been an excellent dark comedy. As it stands, it's a fairly entertaining demo tape for Gibson (give the man a fucking role).
Rated 08 Nov 2011
Rated 10 Dec 2011
40
30th
mel gibson is cool, thats nothing new, but the fight with the beaver, the coffin, ... wtf?
Rated 10 Dec 2011
Rated 25 Aug 2011
40
25th
Everything goes out to Gibsons performance even though he sounds a lot like Ray Winstone, which had me a bit confused at times ;-) With that said The Beaver suffers from it's rather funny premise and it doesnt know whether it would like to tell the story of Walter, The Beaver, His oldest son or the family. Sure it would probably work on some psychological level but it never fully explores its potential. And the climax, which resembles a Dennis Jürgensen novel, crash and burns...
Rated 25 Aug 2011
Rated 14 Aug 2011
60
40th
interesting approach, but not consequent enough to be taken seriously. especially how walters crisis is resolved seems a bit rushed and makes his whole episode pointless.
Rated 14 Aug 2011
Rated 09 Aug 2011
88
70th
No matter what kind of differences Gibson has with his environment, this was no doubt a great achievement. While Hollywood turns his back on him, he proves that he his a great actor. A sick and depressed man, who cut onself off his personality, by creating a fictional alter ego in terms of the beaver. Now you can call this ridiculous, but I think this movie works very well. In fact "The Beaver" can be seen as a psychological metaphor.
Rated 09 Aug 2011
Rated 21 Aug 2011
89
81st
Offbeat drama is deeply moving and very affecting if you can reasonably accept the central premise. Gibson gives possibly the performance of his career, and Foster the actor and director manages to navigate tricky material with great skill, also eliciting fine performances from the rest of her cast. Subplot involving Yelchin and Lawrence is also well handled, though it is a long bow to draw to link it to the main storyline. An unexpected treat.
Rated 21 Aug 2011
Rated 11 Aug 2014
60
50th
Gibson's performance is worthy of awards, and (mark my words!) Killen (whose interesting television shows keep getting cancelled prematurely for no good reasaon) is as likely as anyone in his generation to one day win an Oscar for Best Screenplay. This script (which topped the 2008 Black List) is unique, ambitious and - while admittedly bizarre and somewhat flawed - a rather beautiful mess.
Rated 11 Aug 2014
Rated 17 Feb 2013
6
53rd
A whole lot different and better than I ever expected it to be. Just didn't love the direction the film ended up taking.
Rated 17 Feb 2013
Rated 25 May 2011
50
38th
Someone give Gibson more parts, the man is triumphant. Him & Yelchin alone make this work. Foster is unconvincing as actor & director, the plot is a bit of a shambles (though in parts good), but from about halfway in and on it has a lovable charm, a sharp drive and a touching realism despite its absurdity, which along with some great acting and genuine characterizations make this enjoyable, if a bit silly. The "moral" in the end of the graduation speech is very tacked on and out of place though.
Rated 25 May 2011
Rated 06 Jun 2011
1
5th
Holy shit was this movie awful. Yes, Gibson is good, but every other thing about it is absurd. And I'm not just talking about the Beaver itself - the character arcs are absurd, the depiction of Gibson's toy company's newfound success is absurd, Jennifer Lawrence and Anton Yelchin's relationship is absurd, everything is absurd. Made 90 minutes feel like five hours. I was squirming and repeatedly glancing at the theater exit in anticipation by the blissful end.
Rated 06 Jun 2011
Rated 04 Aug 2014
75
68th
gibson is incredible, foster does well. i always like yelchin, although his character here hasn't been given the care it needs in the script. lawrence's character is so ridiculous as to be a cartoon character and her speech at the end had me gagging after enjoying the movie so so so much otherwise.
Rated 04 Aug 2014
Rated 09 Jul 2012
76
57th
both gibson and foster haven't been very loud in the movie world lately and this movie squeaked by just as quietly as you would think. it was fairly entertaining, but there were too many facets to walter's life that was changed by the introduction of the beaver for us to really get a good film. if we could have gotten a movie without yelchin this one would have been pretty respectable.
Rated 09 Jul 2012
Rated 02 Oct 2011
85
35th
A ridiculous premise, but a surprisingly good performance from Mel Gibson saves it from total disaster. Equally surprising are the middling performances of the rest of what should have been an excellent cast.
Rated 02 Oct 2011
Rated 19 Dec 2017
17
86th
7/9
Rated 19 Dec 2017
Rated 16 Jan 2012
76
45th
Quirky indie flicks work mostly due to charm and fresh ideas. The Beaver definitely has an interesting concept but that concept just didn't hold up over the course of the entire film & the tone of it felt a little cold & emotionless.
Rated 16 Jan 2012
Rated 15 Nov 2011
71
60th
It's kind of like a fucked up remake of Ordinary People...but for kids...? What I mean is: It tries to be lighter than, but then also be darker than, but never really manages to reconcicle the three, or to find common ground. But each is pretty interesting on its own. Probably because this is just cast (and acted) too well.
Rated 15 Nov 2011
Rated 16 May 2012
79
66th
As much as I dislike films containing depression, puppetry and self-mutilation, this wasn't half bad. The story worked mainly due to the son's relationship with Jennifer Lawrence and non-relationship with Mel. These two choices made him very relatable. Mel's whole beaver thing didn't add much, but wasn't as annoying as I feared. In general the whole film just had a good tone and was well-directed, paced and edited. Plenty of sensible choices by Ms Foster, better behind the camera than in front.
Rated 16 May 2012
Rated 28 Feb 2012
70
54th
Not great by any means but well worth a watch, and not as bad as you might imagine given the absurd premise. Gibson is very good.
Rated 28 Feb 2012
Rated 11 Oct 2011
58
48th
Doesn't quite make the most of its premise, and if anything suffers from being a little too short and the resulting underdevelopment of some of the characters. Gibson is excellent and Fosters direction is solid, if largely uninspired. "The Beaver" is at its best on the odd occasions where it is being darkly comic and the focus is on Gibson. It's at its worst while exploring the awfully cliche Lawrence/Yelchin relationship. A few bonus marks for Frightened Rabbit in the soundtrack.
Rated 11 Oct 2011
Rated 22 Apr 2014
50
50th
The story ends with a sense that even in the toughest cases, there may yet be hope and light on the other side of a long, dark tunnel. So maybe it will also help change moviegoers' minds about Mel. But that's not really the reason we go to movies--to analyze their stars. So it's also important to end here with a reminder that while deep and challenging and layered and incredibly nuanced, this is also an idiosyncratic and at times profanely, painfully raw movie. Its primary point? (pluggedin.com)
Rated 22 Apr 2014
Rated 31 May 2011
25
30th
"Gibson again stares deeply into the abyss. The question is whether-after his public disgrace-anyone will want to go there with him."
Rated 31 May 2011
Rated 08 Nov 2011
58
28th
'The Beaver' rarely has a bad scene and it's full of top-notch performances. What Jodie Foster fails to do with the film is illuminate Gibson's character beyond his insanity. As is, the character of Walter feels... a bit dangerous and distant to the audience's empathy. What is he exactly? What happened to him to drive him into such depression? Is the beaver supernatural or a creation of Walter's? Whether you buy into 'the beaver' character will determine the film's fate. I'm on the fence.
Rated 08 Nov 2011
Rated 16 Jan 2012
35
9th
Jodie's therapeutic drama about depression just couldn't work with such a clumsy lack of authenticity and lazy inspirational lines. In a way, this ridiculous, shameful feature is like her version of the Fight Club. But with a creepy beaver as Tyler Durden, of course.
Rated 16 Jan 2012
Rated 21 May 2012
70
77th
I know that a lot of people will be put off not only because this is a drama starring Mel Gibson, but also because it features Mel Gibson and a sentient puppet. These kinds of things sometimes can't be overcome now matter how open minded you want to be. But if both of these things aren't too much of a turn-off, I definitely have to give it a recommendation. I went in expecting a film so bad that it would be a riot, and I ended up with a touching drama about a man in a terrible state of mind.
Rated 21 May 2012
Rated 28 Jan 2012
90
59th
good job.
Rated 28 Jan 2012
Rated 31 Jan 2012
35
9th
Mala. No se donde se creen que esta pelicula es una comedia. Es un drama, que encima se sobrepasa (para mal) para lo que el espectador tiene como preconcepto de esta pelicula.
Rated 31 Jan 2012
Rated 18 Sep 2011
75
45th
Everything with Mel is excellent. Everything without Mel is awful. Take away the puppet and the script is one cliche after another. The B plot with the teenage son is all but worthless (a true resolution would have the father breaking the cycle). Unsatisfying ending. Funny as Hell though. As a whole, had to give it a mediocre rating overall.
Rated 18 Sep 2011
Rated 20 Oct 2011
15
21st
"Mel Gibson's passion is vanquished by his collaborators' retreat into boilerplate sentimentality." - Bill Weber
Rated 20 Oct 2011
Rated 02 Jun 2013
100
95th
No one saw this film, because of what Mel Gibson has been doing in his personal life. But what is it? A touching story about depression, using some humor to explain the situation, while also reminding us that there is a lot of issues that occur from these acts.
Rated 02 Jun 2013
Rated 23 Aug 2011
29
11th
Ok, Gibson is cool like a mad man in Lethal Weapon but here is so naive....
Rated 23 Aug 2011
Rated 11 Aug 2011
65
44th
The similarities to Fight Club are surprising.
Rated 11 Aug 2011
Rated 14 Nov 2011
73
49th
I thought it was kinda weird about the whole puppet thing but Mel did a great job as usual and I'm not a huge fan of Jodie Foster and Jennifer Lawrence is really pretty.
Rated 14 Nov 2011
Rated 12 May 2011
5
0th
Ventriloquism -- seeing and speaking through others -- is Foster's metaphor for the compassion that art ought to elicit, but that even the Hollywood community of "artists" has failed in making Gibson a pariah.
Rated 12 May 2011
Rated 06 Sep 2011
2
15th
What can one really say in response to a film where Mel Gibson talks to a puppet?
Rated 06 Sep 2011
Rated 14 Jul 2014
27
27th
I don't think it's a secret Jodie Foster's in it for the beaver
Rated 14 Jul 2014
Rated 08 Jun 2014
48
33rd
It's a well constructed movie and I have to admit Foster did good, but eventhough the great acting of especially Yelchin I can't get over the fact that it is about a puppet.... Which is not good. 48/100
Rated 08 Jun 2014
Rated 30 Aug 2011
57
46th
The directing was solid and the theme important, even much better than I expected, but I have to admit the story was kind of blunt in the end. And I'm clad Jennifer "Winter Bones" Lawrence's got good parts with big names. She's a rising star.
Rated 30 Aug 2011
Rated 31 May 2012
60
62nd
Interesting.
Rated 31 May 2012
Rated 24 Jan 2012
60
38th
The premise seems really dumb, but Gibson does sell it really well, and it is interesting for a while before it gets competely ridiculous again.
Rated 24 Jan 2012
Rated 12 Aug 2011
65
48th
A lot of potential, very good drama but lacks something to be truly great.
Rated 12 Aug 2011
Rated 28 Mar 2012
76
53rd
Curious movie. What it lacks polish it makes up for in uniqueness. Gibson is terrific and practically nomination worthy. Uneven, but worth seeing. And I'm a sucker for Lawrence.
Rated 28 Mar 2012
Rated 08 Mar 2012
60
41st
Makes a few mistakes. Mostly the subplot with the son being poor and the story doesn't seem to progress in a way that feels natural (again probably due to the split focus). It's a good performance and a bold attempt at dealing with something very real in an unusual way. For that it gets bonus points.
Rated 08 Mar 2012
Rated 06 Sep 2011
75
31st
I understand what they were TRYING to do, but people might get the wrong idea and think this a comedy. They will be disappointed. otoh, it does a very good job of showing that depression/mental illness is not a choice for far too many.
Rated 06 Sep 2011
Rated 10 Mar 2012
100
51st
very good 10 out of 10
Rated 10 Mar 2012
Rated 31 Aug 2011
75
27th
Fine performances by everyone--particularly Mel--but the premise is so absurd that it often doesn't pass the laugh test. What should have been the most gut-wrenching scene reminded me way too much of the hilarious "Farewell to Arms" sequence from "Evil Dead II" . . .and that is not a good thing for this movie. My hunch is that only a great director could have brought this off, and could have done so only by making us believe in the reality of The Beaver. Foster. although good, but not great.
Rated 31 Aug 2011
Rated 09 Feb 2012
70
19th
A superb performance from Mel Gibson. It's too bad the guy's a haven for controversy because he really is a very good actor. Other areas fall flat, namely the awful subplot involving Anton Yelchin and Jennifer Lawrence.
Rated 09 Feb 2012
Rated 30 Sep 2011
45
21st
It's not good but it's also not as bad as you would think considering the laughable premise.
Rated 30 Sep 2011
Rated 10 Oct 2012
8
44th
A bold film that actually achieved a powerful realism with a character speaking through a beaver puppet. Mel Gibson is often accused of playing the same character in every film; but here we do see something new, a dark/confused Mel, a business man losing power. This film is something all Mel Gibson conosurs should see. Unfortunately, the film is really only good for the character. The problem with this film is the story becomes so trite and predictable, but the character is worthwhile.
Rated 10 Oct 2012
Rated 14 Aug 2011
80
80th
The ending speech and the resolution of the love subplot between Lawrence and Yelchin ruined an otherwise really brilliant dark dramedy. Fortunately the acting is great throughout the cast and thus it softens these negative parts.
Rated 14 Aug 2011
Rated 10 Aug 2018
60
38th
What's truly insane is the notion that this is any more a cartoon of mental illness than anything in the DSM.
Rated 10 Aug 2018
Rated 10 Jan 2022
0
0th
I knew going in this was going to be bad going in, but good lord. Anton Yelchin looks so old to be in high school already.
Rated 10 Jan 2022
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